Jakarta

July 16, 2009

Breaking news: Luxury hotels in Jakarta bombed; at least 9 dead

10:18 PM

Update 12:07 pm: About 20 minutes ago, CNN's Anderson Cooper interviewed by phone Jakarta resident Greg Wollstencroft, who lives across the street from the Ritz-Carlton, lived in the hotel for 12 months and works for a Jakarta TV station. Given his profession and his familiarity with the hotel, the interview was the most interesting one I've read or heard so far tonight. The Ritz-Carlton blast is said to have happened about five minutes after the J.W. Marriott blast. Here's what he told Cooper:

Wollstencroft said he'd just arrived back at his home after a walk. He saw the first bomb go off, so he went to his home to get his iPhone and as he was walking back to the street, the second bomb went off at the Ritz-Carlton. Despite the potential risks of a second bomb, Wollstencroft went to the scene to get a first-hand account. As he walked into the chaotic scene, he saw what he thinks was the mangled body of a suicide bomber. It was so mangled he could not tell its nationality. "I saw the body just before it was covered. It was so badly mutilated, you couldn't tell."

The bomb appeared to have gone off in the restaurant, he said. "The inside of the Airlangga restaurant has been totally devestated," he said. Since it was early morning, Wollstencroft told Cooper that he imagined that many people would have been inside eating breakfast at the restaurant.

In response to Cooper's question about hotel security, Wollstencroft said that "it's probably got the highest security of any hotel in Indonesia. I just don't know how someone could get in there with a bomb...given the level of security."
Given the 2003 bombing of the J.W. Marriott, he said, the Ritz-Carlton's security had been stepped up. People can't drive to the lobby, but have to come in from the back, he said. There are major metal barriers, vehicles are searched and people walking in see armed guards at a checkpoint. Visitors have to stop and have their bags searched before going through metal detectors, he said.

Update 11:39 pm: Marriott International issues the following statement:

"At approximately 7:48 a.m. local time, explosions occurred at the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Jakarta, Indonesia. Police responded immediately and sealed off the area. Guests at both hotels have been evacuated. The guests have been moved to a secure location. We are monitoring the situation and are working closely with the authorities. Our deepest sympathies go out to the victims and their families. As always, the safety and security of our guests and associates is a high priority."

Update 11:31 pm: CNN's Anderson Cooper cites AP as saying the death toll has climbed to 9, and at least 50 wounded. No claims yet of responsibility, he said.

Update: 11: 21 pm: On Twitter, Marriott International says "We are currently working to assemble a list of employees and registered guests staying in the hotels," and "As always, the safety and security of our guests and associates is a high priority."

Update: 11:10 pm: CNN's Anderson Cooper's interviewing eyewitness Peter Puomey, who was staying on the 17th floor of the J.W. Marriott. Puomey said he was in his room when "I heard a huge explosion, and the building shook. I went to the window and I looked out on the left-hand side. On the ground floor was a big plume of smoke." Speaking to Cooper from the area outside the Ritz-Carlton, Puomey said security is tight. He had to go through an airport-style metal detector and security sweep to enter the hotel.

ORIGINAL POST: Bomb blasts went off in two luxury hotels that are popular with Americans within minutes of each other around breakfast time Friday morning in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, according to media reports from BBC, Reuters and CNN.

The blasts struck the Ritz-Carlton and the 30-story J.W. Marriott in the city's central business district, killing at four people believed to be foreigners. The latest Associated Press story says that the blasts killed six and injured 18.

The Marriott hotel that was just struck is the same one that was attacked in 2003 in an explosion that killed 12 people, the AP report says. Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah was blamed in that blast, but anti-terror officials have since cracked down on the group. It has been more than three years since a major terrorist attack in Indonesia, the AP story says.

"There were explosions heard from two separate places, one the J.W. Marriott, the other in the Ritz Carlton," South Jakarta Police Chief Firman Santyabudi told AP, according to the BBC report.

Pres. Obama has been notified of the bombings, CNN's Anderson Cooper said.

File photo from 2003; AP photo by Dita Alangkara.